Despite being a tiny set in terms of size, weighing in at only 50 cards, March of the Machine: The Aftermath is incredibly significant toMagic: The Gathering’s overall story. With the after effects of the Phyrexian Invasion reducing many fan-favorite planeswalkers to mere legendary creatures and opening up new portals between Planes, Aftermath establishes a new world order that we will undoubtedly feel the effects of for sets to come.
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And while the game’s major conflict is, for now, at an end, there are always battles to be fought: be they for the fate of the Multiverse or the respect of your Commander playgroup. In the latter case, Aftermath brings a plethora of legendary creatures you can use to head up your decks.
10Tyvar The Bellicose
In addition to teaching everyone a new word, Tyvar the Bellicose also teaches all of your Elves how to kill: something which, as a creature type comprised mainly of 1/1 creatures, they’ve certainly struggled with in the past. The addition of deathtouch lets them attack much more aggressively, leading to surprise wins if you have a combat trick up your sleeve.
Beyond this, Tyvar also letsyour mana dorks, another staple of Elf culture, scale up their stats every time they tap for mana. With these two abilities combined, Tyvar can lead a force of Elves better than most, even without his planeswalker spark to help him.
9Tazri, Stalwart Survivor
A commander that may just start a whole new archetype, that being ‘five color activated abilities,’ Tazri is certainly an interesting deckbuilding proposition. Letting all of your creatures produce mana, provided they have an activated ability of their own, she can then funnel that mana exclusively into other activated abilities, including her own five-mana, five-color number.
In the right build, this can have devastating implications, bringing outrageously-priced activated abilities within reach and granting you huge draw power through Tazri herself. Combined with the much-needed Training Grounds reprint in Aftermath, Tazri may just usher in a bold new age: and we, for one, welcome our new activated ability overlords.
8Rocco, Street Chef
Group Hug decksrepresent one of the most interesting play styles in the Commander format, prioritizing mutual benefit over mutual destruction and political plays over pure power. Rocco is a great choice to lead such a deck, essentially granting every player an additional temporary draw each turn he’s in play.
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Whenever one of those cards is played, including your own, Rocco rewards you with a +1/+1 counter and a Food token. The counter can go anywhere, helping to bolster the alliances you’ve formed, while the Food can help keep you alive or slowly pile up until you have enough artifacts in play for a surprise combo win.
7Danitha, New Benalia’s Light
Danitha has, in all of her past incarnations, always had asoft spot for Voltron strategies, combining a suite of keywords with aura and equipment support effects to great effect. Her latest form is no different, though it may just be the best one yet when it comes to the long game and accruing value over time.
Firstly, she trades in her first strike for trample, a better ability in the long-term and one that scales well with increased stats. Secondly, she allows for the recursion of one aura or equipment from your graveyard each turn. This helps you rebuild if you get blown out by a well-timed removal spell and allows a unique self-mill spin on the Voltron archetype.
6Sigarda, Font Of Blessings
All, be they Angel or Human, are welcome under Sigarda’s sheltering wings. Her Future Sight ability, which lets you look at the top card of your deck and play it if it’s an Angel or Human, is the main focus here. It’s a great one, too, providing a consistent card advantage engine in a deck themed around one or both of those types.
It’s not all Sigarda has to offer, however. Her other ability provides hexproof for all your other permanents, regardless of type. This is incredible protection and allows you to go down a combo route, assembling your key creatures without fear of being unceremoniously removed. Just keep a few combat tricks handy to avoid board wipes, and you’ll be golden.
5Plargg And Nassari
This duo of Deans deftly demonstrates the importance of decision-making. Granting you two free spells from among your opponents’ decks each turn, the pair let you choose another player to decide which spell you definitely won’t be casting, creating some interesting political scenarios.
To get the most out of these two, you’ll want to load your own deck with expensive bomb spells and form alliances as you play, ensuring you’ll always have at least one player you can turn to for a favorable selection when your turn rolls around. Appropriately enough, running a deck with these two at the helm will teach you to become a master manipulator.
4Niv-Mizzet, Supreme
Niv-Mizzet has been on a consistent quest for power over the years, and he may have just reached his apex with this card. As a 5/5 flyer for five, he packs solid base stats and protection from monocolored, a not-insignificant ability, given the abundance of budget one-colour decks in the format.
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The real juice here is his ability, however. Niv truly embodies his Ravnica roots here, granting jump-start to every two-color spell in your graveyard. This lets you double down on any guild-aligned spells you happen to cast and encourages a unique deckbuilding style that will play out very differently from traditional spellslinger brews.
3Sarkhan, Soul Aflame
There’s no shortage ofviable Dragon commandersin Magic, but Sarkhan is a more-than-worthy addition to their venerable ranks. Not only does he make your Dragons cheaper to cast, but he can also assume their forms when they enter play, granting them pseudo-haste if he was already on the battlefield prior.
This is a fantastic ability in a fair deck, given how common on-attack triggers are for Dragons. It’s also ripe for exploitation since blink effects allow you to impersonate the same mighty beast turn after turn. However you choose to play him, this new Sarkhan will undoubtedly set your Soul, and your Commander pod, Aflame.
2Karn, Legacy Reforged
A true icon and defining pillar of Magic’s story, Karn’s appearance in Aftermath is an element of reassuring stability in an otherwise wildly unstable set. This stability does not extend to his abilities, however, which have the potential to create absurd amounts of stats and mana in the right shell.
This inkarnation of the character is interesting since it encourages playing tall and wide simultaneously: tall so that he can have the best possible stats; and wide so that you’re able to generate the most possible mana each turn. You’ll need to pack your deck with a mix of cheap and expensive artifacts, ranging from Ornithopter to Blightsteel Colossus, to get the most out of this Reforged hero.
1Calix, Guided By Fate
Enchantress decks, or those which derive benefits fromenchantment cards entering play, have been around since Argothian Enchantress made her debut in 1998’s Urza’s Saga. Calix is the latest commander option for fans of the archetype, offering ample incentive to pack your deck with enchantments.
While his actual ‘Enchantress’ trigger is fairly minor, simply granting a +1/+1 counter to a creature in play, his other ability is much more powerful. When he or one of your enchanted creatures deals damage to an opponent, you get to duplicate an enchantment you have in play. This lets you easily double down on auras and powerful global effects and encourages an aura-heavy go-wide approach that feels distinct from other Enchantress strategies.
